Scott Walker’s America

Big news out of Wisconsin as the legislature prepares to ditch the budget repair bill and go straight to the collective bargaining at the heart of the past month’s controversy. But Scott Walker isn’t the only governor taking huge political risks–new Republican leaders in Florida and Pennsylvania are pushing dramatic budget cuts. Meanwhile, things are quiet in Illinois… too quiet?

By Whet Moser

Published March 9, 2011

Breaking news out of Wisconsin tonight: first the Republican-majority legislature tried to cut collective bargaining by embedding it in a budget repair bill, which couldn’t go through after Democrats left for Illinois. Now they’re cutting the budget repair from the collective bargaining changes; the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel explains how that could work… if it’s not a trick. This comes on the heels of Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald more or less admitting that union-breaking is the point.

Generally swell, at least, if not in the particulars. As other states are going through fiscal shock therapy, Illinois pols and pundits are being extremely cautious, so cautious that it’s notable when a few big players agree that talking about changing the tax code is good.

States are turning into fiscal laboratories as they address the budget crises in the wake of the recession–some going all in with pro-business policies, others playing it safe by borrowing, raising taxes, and scrutinizing the tax code. It’s a good time to be following other states’ political situations, not just because they’re more interesting but because there will be a lot to learn in the coming years.